Maryland sports betting bill progresses
Senate Bill 4 is now awaiting the outcome of the November referendum that will determine if residents want to permit sports betting or not.
US.- Maryland’s Senators have approved a bill that would legalise sports betting in the state.
The bill, sponsored by a Montgomery County lawmaker, was reviewed by the Budget and Taxation Committee, made up of nine Democrats and four Republicans, and has become Senate Bill 4.
The Bill will now sit idle until a referendum that will take place during the November general election to determine whether Maryland residents wish to legalise sports betting or not.
If the result is positive and the Bill passes, it would grant nine sports gambling licenses: six would go to the state’s casinos and its two race tracks Pimlico Race Course and Laurel Park would share a licence.
Another licence would go to the State Fairgrounds in Timonium and one would go to a new Washington Redskins stadium in Prince George’s County.
Each licensee would be forced to pay an upfront fee. For the Maryland Jockey Club (the company that owns Laurel and Pimlico) and the larger casinos, the fee would be US$2.5 million. For casinos with fewer than 1,000 slot machines, the fee would be US$1.5 million.
